Monarch Group - not absolute ruler, but on course to profit in FY2013 with strong turnaround

On 12-Jun-2013, privately owned Monarch Group published its annual report and accounts (for the year to Oct-2012) for the first time and issued a trading update for 1HFY2013. The group also says that, following a Nov-2011 re-financing, its turnaround strategy is on course to return the loss-making group to profit in FY2013.

Monarch Group, which includes tour operations and aircraft engineering in addition to scheduled leisure airline Monarch Airlines, is currently considering an order of up to 62 new aircraft for delivery up to 2024. Executive chairman Iain Rawlinson has recently denied that the company is seeking a public listing or new shareholders.

Nevertheless, the size of this planned aircraft order and the first-time publication of an annual report, which reveals an under-capitalised balance sheet, may well fuel speculation that the group is indeed considering just that.